CHAPTER 6: WHO WORKS AT THE UNITED NATIONS?
![..the [UN] staff shall not seek or receive instructions from...any other authority... - UN Charter, 1945](images/quote6.jpg)
Who works at the United Nations and what do they do there?
Economists, translators, statisticians, secretaries, TV producers, computer experts, physicians, carpenters - these are just a few of the wide variety of people with many skills and backgrounds who work as UN staff members.
The UN Secretariat employs some 7,750 staff members under the regular budget and some 8,230 under special funding. Coming from nearly 175 countries, they administer the UN's policies and programmes in New York and at duty stations around the world. The UN system as a whole - the UN and its related programmes and specialized agencies, including the World Bank and the IMF - employs some 63,450 people worldwide.
How are staff members selected?
The UN Charter says that the essential criteria for recruitment shall be "the highest standards of efficiency, competence and integrity". Due regard must also be paid to "recruiting the staff on as wide a geographical basis as possible". The staff of the Secretariat must reflect the whole membership of the UN, so that it will be responsive to the diverse political, social and cultural systems in the world and so that all Member States will have confidence in it. To ensure such diversity, the UN employs qualified people from all over the world, recruiting both globally and locally. Tough competitive examinations are used to recruit the core professional staff at the junior and middle levels.
Are diplomats posted at the UN members of its staff?
No. Most visible to the public, these diplomats represent and work for their governments, not for the UN. All Member States maintain permanent missions in New York, which are, in effect, their countries' embassies to the UN. Missions are headed by ambassadors, known as permanent representatives, who make up the core of the diplomatic community in New York. Diplomats posted to the UN enjoy the legal privileges and immunities allowed under international law for diplomats everywhere. Some 2,230 diplomats are assigned to UN Headquarters in New York.
Are both developed and developing countries fairly represented among UN staff?
At mid-year 2005, nearly 46.8 per cent of UN posts at the senior and policy-making level were held by nationals of developed countries, followed by those from developing countries (42.9 per cent) and countries with economies in transition (10.3 per cent). Among all staff, 50.1 per cent were from developing countries, 39.7 per cent from developed countries, and 10.2 per cent from countries in transition - despite the fact that developing countries represent 150 of the UN's 192 Member States and nearly 84 per cent of the world's population.
How about women's representation?
In 2005, women filled 41.3 per cent of the core professional posts. At the senior levels of the Secretariat, women held 31.8 per cent of the posts. The UN seeks to ensure equal opportunity for women, and the Secretary-General has appointed several eminent women to top UN posts. These include the Deputy Secretary-General, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, the Executive Director of the UN Population Fund, and the former Director-General of the World Health Organization. Women lead the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat), the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) and the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA). A woman also leads the UN regional commission for Western Asia which - along with regional commissions for Africa, Asia and the Pacific, Europe, and Latin America and the Caribbean - initiates measures to promote regional economic development.
Is the UN overstaffed?
The number of people employed worldwide by the UN in all capacities - nearly 16,000 people by the UN Secretariat and some 63,450 by the entire UN system - is remarkably small for a system of organizations engaged on a global scale in virtually all areas of human welfare, from promoting peace to furthering development, to organizing humanitarian relief. By comparison: the United States Department of Education employs nearly 71,000 people; the city of Ontario, Canada, has over 80,000 public employees; and the Coca Cola Company has 74,000 employees.
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UN PERSONNEL UNDER ATTACK
Attacks against UN personnel have increased dramatically in the past few years, as typified by the 19 August 2003 bombing of UN headquarters in Baghdad. In that attack, more than 150 were injured and 22 killed, including head of mission Sergio Vieira de Mello - a major figure in UN efforts worldwide.
Since 1992, some 230 UN civilian staff have been killed as a result of malicious acts. Between July 2004 and June 2005 alone, 11 civilian staff were killed, and there were:
- 3 incidents of hostage-taking, 17 kidnappings, 4 cases of rape, and 6 cases of sexual assault against UN personnel;
- 119 incidents of armed robbery involving significant UN assets; 9 attacks resulting in the death or injury of UN personnel on humanitarian convoys and operations; and 123 incidents of harassment of humanitarian convoys;
- 220 incidents in which checkpoints or roadblocks prohibited access by UN personnel; 108 incidents of harassment, abuse or physical assault at checkpoints or roadblocks; and continuing incidents of obstruction at checkpoints for staff of the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA);
- 160 incidents of threatening verbal abuse; 407 incidents of physical assaults and gunfire; and 88 terrorist-related threats against UN personnel and field installations;
- 121 incursions or attempted incursions into UN installations; and 333 incidents of theft.
In addition, the number of UN personnel arrested, under detention or missing, and with respect to whom the UN has been unable to exercise its right to protection, increased from 26 cases to 43 during the reporting period.
And in UN peacekeeping, more than 2,222 military and civilian personnel from 111 countries have died in the line of duty since 1948, including more than 120 peacekeepers in 2005.
Condemning all such attacks, the Security Council has recalled that the responsibility for the safety of UN missions rests with host countries and parties to conflicts. And in December 2005, the General Assembly adopted an Optional Protocol to its 1994 Convention on the Safety of UN and Associated Personnel, which obliges the governments of countries where UN peacekeeping operations are conducted to safeguard UN staff and to take preventive measures against murders and abductions. The Protocol, which extends the Convention's legal protection to staff delivering emergency aid or providing humanitarian, political or development assistance in peace-building, will come into effect when it has been ratified by 22 countries. |
Are UN staff members overpaid?
To assure high standards for UN staff, Member States have stipulated that UN professional salaries should be comparable to those of the highest-paid national civil service. But rates of remuneration at the UN have fallen far short of those of national civil services and international organizations, and are even more out of line with salaries in the private sector of several countries. Many heads of UN agencies, and the Secretary-General as well, have expressed concern that conditions of service are no longer competitive. For professionals from France, Germany, Japan and many other countries, quitting their jobs to join the UN would mean lower salaries and benefits. Even though most staff join the UN out of support for the ideals of the Organization, the UN still has difficulty in attracting and retaining staff from countries with high pay levels. If the UN wants to continue to attract highly qualified and dedicated professionals, it must be a competitive employer offering attractive conditions.
UN professional salaries are considerably lower than in many other international organizations
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Do UN staff members have too many benefits?
No. In terms of holidays, health insurance, pension and the like, UN benefit programmes resemble those offered by governments and the private sector for their staff working abroad.
The vast majority of UN staff members do not enjoy diplomatic status and are subject to the laws of the country in which they are serving. Staff members pay a "staff assessment", which is a form of income tax deducted from their gross salary according to a graduated scale. It is a fixed tax from which no deductions may be taken. Except for the few with diplomatic status, UN employees pay the same sales, real estate and other taxes as anyone else. And while people often associate the idea of a UN job with New York, many staff members live and work far away from Headquarters - often in countries ravaged by poverty or war.
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